Stewart Sharma Harsanyi Immigration Law Firm Blog

Misrepresentation and Federal Court Deadlines

If you go hunting for misrepresentation, surprise surprise you find it. Punjabis in particular should exercise caution submitting overseas work permits when spouse in Canada. It's clear that visa office is sending a message to this community & have no problem throwing baby out with bathwater. Delhi is far more likely to make a finding of misrepresentation than any other visa office. After such a finding, the only recourse is Federal Court. Federal Court deadlines are strict. If a visa office (likely Delhi) finds you/your spouse has committed misrepresentation you need to act within 60 days. Justice Bell refused to grant an extension of time and dismissed this application: https://t.co/XmAYycLbov Asking/waiting for the GCMS notes, going to your MP, asking for a reconsideration do *not* (necessarily) allow you to ask for an extension of time at the Federal Court. "Mr. Singh has provided no explanation for the delay other than the fact he was pursuing alternative remedies. That cannot be a valid explanation. If it were, the time limits set out in the legislative policy would be in constant chaos..." And... "Although his spouse spoke to a MP and he sought reconsideration of the decision, he did not move for... Read more →

Discussion on Crime Beat discussing deportation and immigration enforcement process for serious criminals

It was a pleasure joining Crime Reporter Nancy Hixt on her great podcast, "Crime Beat", discussing the deportation and immigration enforcement process for serious criminals. Read more →

Interview on AM770 January 22, 2021 Discussing the Possible Deportation of Jaskirat Sidhu the Driver in the Humboldt Tragedy

Summary: Calgary immigration lawyer Raj Sharma discussed the case of Jaskirat Singh Sidhu, the driver involved in the Humboldt Broncos bus crash who is facing deportation after serving his sentence. Sharma explained the immigration process for temporary residents and permanent residents like Sidhu, who is a long-term resident of Canada with a permanent residency status. He also mentioned the Faster Removal of Foreign Criminals Act, which lowered the threshold for deportation to six months. Sharma believes that officers have some discretion in making decisions, and in Sidhu's case, they might consider factors such as his establishment in Canada, ties to this country, the thoughts and views of family members of the victims, his early guilty plea, and his honorable conduct during the trial. Sharma thinks that Sidhu is one of the victims of the tragedy, and the regulations surrounding driving a truck that size across different provinces were insufficient. Some families of the victims have spoken in support of Sidhu, while others are against allowing him to remain in Canada. Danielle Smith: Get to that though, we have another topic that we want to deal with. I feel I'm going to be off side was you guys all day today... Read more →

Immigration Predictions 2021

Ah January. The month of making resolutions and predictions. Perhaps neither exercise is of real value. If 2020 has taught us anything is the futility of making predictions or assuming that the year will unfold as other years that have passed. Yet humans are creatures of habit and tradition. 2020 was like a storm that impacted every business line of immigration. 2021 will be the first year for rebuilding. However, it's not just systems and backlogs that need to be addressed: the government has set aggressive settlement targets -and it remains to be seen how those targets can be met with a still-hobbled system. One can only assume that CRS will drop and that will benefit the Canadian Experience Class. One can only hope that a pathway to PR will be created for essential (but low skill/wage) workers in Canada that have been on the front lines during the pandemic. As employers recover, so will business immigration... Sponsors of spouses and common law partners have managed to get the attention of law makers. One can only hope that officers are facilitative towards visitor visas for long suffering partners awaiting reunification with their loved ones -of course if overall processing was... Read more →